President's Remark Kaifukuki Rehabilitation Wards (Convalescent Rehabilitation Wards) Kaifukuki rehabilitation wards were established in 2000 alongside the introduction of Japan's long-term care insurance system, and have since functioned as an indispensable infrastructure linking acute-phase treatment with community-based living. Today, the total number of rehabilitation beds in these wards exceeds 90,000. In our ward, we rapidly admit patients from acute-care hospitals and provide up to three hours of intensive rehabilitation per day under appropriate medical management to prevent and treat complications. Through a multidisciplinary team approach, we strive to maximize functional recovery and improve both ADL and IADL, working closely with community services to help patients return home whenever possible. We also emphasize post-discharge support to facilitate each patient’s successful reintegration into society and enable them to lead fulfilling lives. The Convalescent Rehabilitation Ward Association Founded in 2001 and incorporated as a general incorporated association in 2012, our Association has been dedicated to enhancing the quality of convalescent rehabilitation care. Our activities rest on two pillars:
Our Philosophy We cherish the "Rehabilitation Mindset"ーa commitment to doing what is right, embracing challenges, putting aside personal gain, walking alongside people with disabilities, and fostering teamworkーand remain steadfast in our mission to contribute to the realization of an inclusive, community-based society. May 2025 Hidekazu Sugawara President, Convalescent Rehabilitation Ward Association ＊Link：JJCRS Page Top
As one of the political solutions to rapidly growing ageing of the Japanese society, the national insurance system introduced the Kaifukuki rehabilitation ward (KRW) in 2000 and defined the KRW as the main system of inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF). Kaifuku-ki represents the recovery or convalescent phase. Each patient who still needs assistance in activities of daily living (ADLs) after treatment of the specific disabling diseases in acute hospitals are transferred to KRWs. They include stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, acute neurological diseases, hip fracture, multiple fractures, knee replacement, hip replacement, and disuse syndrome after pneumonia and surgical procedure. The KRW, comparable with IRFs in North America and Europe, includes coverage of 60 to 180 day inpatient rehabilitation depending on the disease and 3 hours of rehabilitation per day including weekends. To facilitate an interdisciplinary team approach, the KRW team provides patients and their families with a comprehensive monthly rehabilitation plan, including information about achieved goals, planned goals, and rehabilitative approaches to achieve the goals; discharge planning; and social resources necessary for a home discharge. To ensure the quality of rehabilitation service, each KRW is required to report several clinical indicators i.e., gains in ADL measures adjusted to length of hospital stay as well as rates of medically unstable patients, severely disabled patients and discharge home. Page Top
Since the Kaifukuki Rehabilitation Ward (KRW) system was introduced in Japan in 2000, the KRW wards and beds have continuously increased in number (Fig.1). At the time of establishment of KRW Association (KRWA) , the first goal of the number of beds were 60,000 beds (50 beds for every 100,000 people) in Japan. The number of KRW beds exceeded 60,000 beds in 2010, and 77,000 beds (60beds for every 100,000 people) are currently available nationwide at the end of March 2016. The number 77,000 beds means 5% of total inpatient beds in Japan.
Table. 1: The rate of becoming a member of KRWA (2016.3)
Fig.1: The number of KRW beds (2016.3) Page Top
1. Annual meeting of members ・A meeting of members is held in May every year. ・The board of directors of the Kaifukuki Rehabilitation Ward (KRW) deliberates an agenda involving fiscal year project reports, project planning, earnings reports, earnings estimates, election of officers, and other topics. 2. Board ・Official’s term is 2 years. ・The board of directors of the KRW, who represent a medical care team, comprised of a physician, a nurse, a physical therapist, an occupational therapist, a speech therapist, a social worker, and a managerial nutritionist. The board will expand intense deliberations regarding the direction of KRW. Link: Board Members 3. Committee Activities (1) Insurance and survey committee ・Surveys regarding the KRW have been continuously conducted since 2001, maintaining a high response rate of approximately 60%. Insurance and survey committee has been involved in organizing these results, drafting policies, formulating commentaries on the reformation of the medical services payment system, putting forth necessary proposals, and other activities. (2) General committee ・General committee have been constructing an intra-organizational crisis management system, strengthening disaster rehabilitation response, hosting and managing meetings with prefectural liaisons, and conducting other related activities. (3) Editorial and public relations committee ・Editorial and public relations committee have been involved in the editing and publishing of hospital-related multidisciplinary KRW newsletters “Kaifukuki rehabilitation” four times a year. (4) JJCRS committee ・JJCRS committee publishes the open access journal “Japanese Journal of Comprehensive Rehabilitation Science (JJCRS)”, which is the official scientific journal of KRW organization. (5) Medical Safety committee ・Medical Safety committee have been investigating measures against easily occurring.
